The G-man wants you.

I finished Half Life 2 a couple of weeks ago and haven't had time to express myself on the subject. In a word, Half Life 2 is AWESOME. It looks great, sounds great and plays great. What more can you ask for.

Eli Vance..voice by Robert Guillaume (you know..Benson)
Posted by Hello

Half Life is all about the experience. Doom 3 was able to scare you with things jumping out from the dark, but I was still somewhat disconnected from the experience that should have been great. Half Life 2 delivers on immersing the player into the game. I really felt a part of the story. The only time I felt disconnected was when I wanted to interact more with the characters that you meet. For example, there were times when people would tell you something and then pause as if waiting for a response. I really wanted some way to interact and respond. Hopefully, HL3 will give the gamer that opportunity. But that didn't take that much away from the experience overall. I still felt a wide range of emotions while playing. Everything from helplessness to pity to fear to elation. The game is really that good.

Valve has already released extras for those that have bought this game. For example there is now a Half-Life 2 Deathmatch which allows you to run around with the gravity gun finding inventive ways to off your opponents. They have also released the SDK which allows modders to use the same tools the developers did to create levels or entire new worlds/games. I haven't tried any level mapping since Duke Nukem but having the tools available and knowing the engine allows so much freedom I may invest the time to try this out.

I have also been playing some games that were included in the package I bought that I never thought of buying when they came out because I wasn't convinced there was much value in them. Specifically, Counter-Strike Condition Zero. But I have been pleasantly surprised at how much fun I have had playing the bots in this game. The bots that make up your teammates are usually pretty stupid (don't follow orders and get in your way on a regular basis) but the enemy bots act pretty well together. And the missions which require you to get a certain kind of kill (eg. kill 3 enemies that have been blinded by a flashbang) really make you think of strategy. Along with Condition Zero there is an expansion pack included called Deleted Scenes which continues the carnage. While I haven't enjoyed this quite as much it does provide a good distraction.

The money I spent on the original half life was easily the best money I ever spent on a video game. The money I spent on Half life 2 is shaping up to be just as good a purchase.